NSDC looking at high-growth potential sectors

Employability of school and college graduates is a major concern, with only 34 per cent of graduates having the required job skills. Around 47 million young Indians are unemployed, according to the 2011 census data, even as employers across various sectors continue their search for talent.

In a bid to address the issue, the government had introduced a revised centrally sponsored scheme of vocational training in Secondary Education in 2011, which integrated employability education into school education.

The National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) has been working with nine states to run the scheme in 940 schools, and imparting skills to more than 70,000 students.

“Earlier, it was just 40 schools,” explained Dilip Chenoy, CEO, NSDC, adding that the scheme has been started in 200 schools in Haryana, and have expanded to Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Maharashtra, with hopes to take it pan-India soon.

The pilot across 40 schools ensured that 152 students out of a total of 209 candidates were placed across sectors like retail, security and IT/ITES.

“Other than three kids who were underage and two students who did not meet the height requirement, all the others got jobs. The first pass-out batch of the pilot has seen excellent placements.

“We had 25 students in retail, 85 in security and the remaining 42 in IT/ITES. Some of the prestigious companies that hired these students were Dish TV, Marks & Spencer, Vishal Mega Mart, Serco Global, Peregrine Security, Checkmate Industrial Guard and Tops Group,” he added.

NSDC would now try and focus on sectors, like training in furniture-fitting and in chemicals. “We are looking at six to eight sectors, which have a high growth potential like tourism, hospitality, chemical, and even management,” added Chenoy.

The scheme is operated within the National Vocational Education Qualifications Framework (NVEQF). Through its Sector Skill Councils, NSDC has been supporting State governments in the implementation of the scheme. The NVEQF programme in Haryana aims to impart vocational skills to student of class IX to XII, for levels 1 to 4, and create opportunities for students to begin with a career of their choice. Besides Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, the scheme has been introduced in five more states. Some 19 more states are expected to implement the scheme.

From 240 schools in Haryana, some 23,000 students would be placed in the auto, healthcare, retail, security, IT-ITeS, beauty and wellness and the sports sector by early next year.

Of the 200 schools in Himachal Pradesh, around 18,000 students would be placed in sectors as wide as auto, healthcare, retail, security, IT-ITeS, and agriculture in 2014-2015, under this programme.

From the 350 schools in Maharashtra, 15,000 candidates would be placed across auto, healthcare, IT-ITeS, construction, and capital goods sector, while out of the 100 schools in Karnataka, 15,000 students are to be placed in the auto, healthcare, IT-ITeS and retail sector.

NSDC is currently working with the State governments of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Rajasthan for the implementation of the scheme in their states, through its Sector Skill Councils. Agreements with the State governments of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh are to be signed shortly.

Corporates like Tata Motors have shown an interest by partnering with NSDC for increasing employability of the youth. Recently, NSDC signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Tata Motors. The pilot would commence with five schools, with an average of 50 students per school.

Shenoy said that depending on the outcome of the pilot, a full-scale plan would be launched. Students trained under the partnership would be preferred by the automotive major while hiring.

Under the MoU, ‘automobile’ skill would be introduced as one of the vocational subjects for 11th and 12th standard students at some of the government schools identified by Tata Motors, in partnership with the state governments.

Chenoy noted that the automotive industry in India has been growing around 14 per cent compounded annual growth rate for the last 10 years, and would require 15 million skilled people over the next decade.